Jon Ledford first started at Arcade Sushi thinking that it was a sushi barcade, which unfortunately doesn't exist..yet. With distinct opinions in regards to gaming and a deep fondness of 90's cartoons, anime, B movies, and RPGs with world maps (no lists of cities and destinations, thank you), Jon spends his off time patiently waiting for an HD remake or sequel to Final Fantasy 6. Graduating magna cum laude from Rowan University and Atlantic Cape Community College's 2010 Communication Major of the Year, Jon is also the leader of an underground resistance fighting against the forcing of motion technology into the world of console gaming. Feel free to follow him @JonLedford.
Jon Ledford
Red Rings and a Killer Lineup: The Xbox 360 Turns 10
After 84 million consoles sold, it's time we celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Xbox 360 and take a look back its red-ringed history, its extensive lineup and how Xbox Live helped redefine online gameplay for the modern era. Microsoft's second major gaming console was a big success for the company, nearly quadrupling the sales of the original Xbox. It effectively went neck and neck against the PlayStation 3 in the North American market. Now, the two companies are still vying for market supremacy with their current-gen systems. Even though the video game scene has started to move on towards the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, millions of gamers are still holding onto their Xbox 360 as their go-to system of choice.
Star Wars Battlefront Review (PlayStation 4)
Battlefront is meant to be the Star Wars video game to get as the world awaits the theatrical release of The Force Awakens. While Battlefront doesn't particularly fall under the doomed movie-based video game curse, it certainly feels like one. As a few more months of development could've greatly helped players get more bang for their buck when it comes to this multiplayer frag-fest. Luckily, Star Wars Battlefront is meant to tap into both the success that the first-person shooter genre has gotten over the years with the likes of the Call of Duty and Battlefield franchises and the overall boom in hype/merchandising leading into The Force Awakens. Battlefront certainly doesn't reinvent online multiplayer FPS gameplay or even have any lasting reasons to keep you coming back for more, but its presentation and nostalgic values are more than enough to keep casual gamers out there entertained.
Through the Wire: Hitman Turns 15
It's been fifteen years since we first wrapped up that iconic garrote wire and choked someone out as Agent 47 in his first stealth adventure, Hitman: Codename 47. In order to celebrate Hitman hitting the mid-teens, it's time we look back at one of our favorite stealth/assassination franchises. While Thief, Splinter Cell, Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid and the Batman: Arkham series have all gone toe-to-toe with Agent 47, we still prefer Hitman when it comes to good old fashioned wetwork.
10 Hungriest Game Characters
With Thanksgiving on the horizon, gamers all across the United States will partake in some epic feasts, likely topping things off with some pumpkin pie and a few video game sessions with the family. While Thanksgiving was originally supposed to be a feast of appreciation for a good harvest throughout the year, it of course has become a commercialized shadow of its original intent. Supermarkets are jacking up the prices of canned cranberry sauce and gravy, so it's time we look at the real core of the holiday: gluttony. Throughout the history of gaming, there have been all kinds of characters we've seen with insatiable, otherworldly appetites, and it's time we look at the characters who can gorge through copious, even astronomical amounts of food without faltering.
10 Best PlayStation RPGs
Equip your Materia, forge some Rune, equip your favorite giant sword and unleash your Mitochondria as we quest through the 10 Best PlayStation RPGs.
Clearing the Mist: Final Fantasy IX Turns 15
Fifteen years ago, Square released its ninth Final Fantasy game in North America. It's time we look back at this stellar and criminally overlooked classic of the franchise. Square may have developed Final Fantasy IX alongside Final Fantasy VIII, but the two were quite different. While the emo Squall, Quistis and the rest of the time-travelling SeeDs had more realistic designs, the characters and world of Final Fantasy IX stayed in line with the more traditional art style of Final Fantasy's disproportionate body types. Sure, Squall's crew was more realistic-looking than the blocky, deformed models in Zidane and Cloud's posses, but that doesn't mean that Final Fantasy VIII or even Final Fantasy XII were better games just because their characters were "normal"-looking.
10 Best Real-Time Strategy Games
The term real-time strategy may have spawn from Dune II, but this genre of games has multiplied and evolved to become a big cornerstone of the video game industry, especially when it comes to PC gaming. RTS games take a lot of previous stategy game tropes and mechanics, focusing on unit, building and resource management, usually during times of warfare. For most games of the genre, you generally have to generate resources (usually by having a unit farm them somehow), use those resources to create buildings and have the buildings spawn additional units. Units usually consist of different builder/farmer and combat-oriented types. Proper time management and intuitive use of your forces and capabilities are a must as you continuously try upgrading and increasing your bases and forces while putting pressure on the enemies, who are trying to do the same thing.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Review (PlayStation 4)
Activision's three-year cycle of development for the Call of Duty series continues with Treyarch's latest entry, Black Ops III. The former Tony Hawk Pro Skater studio known for Call of Duty: World at War are taking things to the future with their third Black Ops title. Continuing in the footsteps of Sledgehammer Games' release of Advanced Warfare last year, Black Ops III fully moves things even later into the future. Some of the more acrobatic moves and skills we saw in both Titanfall and Advanced Warfare are making a return here, which might underwhelm some fans hoping for a different experience.
Worst to First: Call of Duty
To celebrate the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops III, we're reloading and staying in cover as we review the 10 best hits of the franchise, going from worst to first. Ever since we first played as Private Joe Martin in the original 2003 Call of Duty and starting mowing down Nazis during Operation Overlord (the Battle of Normandy), players felt like their actions were important and greatly impacted both the battlefield and the lives of their fellow soldiers onscreen. There was something about the franchise that just made it standout from its contemporaries. While Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare would help the series become a household name and an online multiplayer phenomenon, lets not forget its origins.
A Demolition Derby Gun Show: Twisted Metal Turns 20
Twenty years ago, Sony and SingleTrac released their first entry in the gun-toting destruction derby and vehicular combat series, Twisted Metal. It's time we look back at the octane-fueled mayhem of Twisted Metal and the large influence the original game had in putting the first PlayStation console on the map.